Advice From A Friend
by Pokebreeder123
Summary: A oneshot about when Firestar feels like maybe he should go back to being a kittypet. Feeling down, he goes to talk to his old friend Smudge...


This is the first Warriors fanfic I've ever seriously done; I hope it's pretty good. Just a oneshot though.

This takes place in the old territory before the Great Journey to the lake territory, sometime before the New Prophecy, and after Firestar's Quest.

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_He was padding through the woods, more silent than even a warrior of TigerClan on the prowl. He inhaled the fresh night air, and his eyes shone in the moonlight like emeralds._

_Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw something large, several fox-lengths high. It was a fence. Without thinking, he sprang onto it, perching precariously. He sat down, and began to groom himself. Then, he spotted something familiar. A Twoleg nest._

_He began to move towards it, curiously. Inside him, however, he felt a foreboding. He couldn't stop himself, however._

_The door of the nest opened, and a Twoleg stepped out, crooning to him, and it stroked his back. He couldn't help but purr. The Twoleg picked him up, and he rubbed its shoulder, as the Twoleg took him inside the nest._

_The Twoleg shut the door, and set him down. It took a tin of something, and a bowl, and poured kittypet food into the bowl. He began to eat ravenously, unpreventably, even though in his head, he yowled, "NOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOO!_

_"NOOOOOOOOO!"_

Firestar jolted up to see who had been yowling. He then flattened his ears in embarrassment when he realized it had been him. Letting out a sigh of annoyance, he stood up, and padded out of his den, and sat directly outside of it, looking at the sky.

_That's the fifth time this moon I've had that nightmare…_ he thought. What is StarClan trying to tell me? It can't be a coincidence...

The stars shone brightly, but the moon was new and black. Foxdung! Cinderpelt is gone tonight at her meeting with the other Clans' medicine cats... he hissed in his head.

He supposed he would have to work this out himself. _What could StarClan be saying?_ The dreams were nearly all copies of the one that he had just had. In them, he would be wandering in ThunderClan territory, and then he would pad to a Twoleg garden, where a Twoleg would take him inside their nest, where he would be like a kittypet…

Firestar felt rather depressed. He tried to shake the thought away, but it kept nagging him like a flea that kept just out of reach. He had had this thought lately, but StarClan had not shown him anything to prove him wrong... they seemed to just be confirming it…

Without even thinking, he stood up, and began padding towards, and out of, the gorse tunnel leading in and out of the camp. He let his paws guide him, because at this point he was just too tired and sad to really care where he went. He figured that StarClan would take him where he really belonged...

Before long, Firestar was in the pines near the Treecut place, and soon afterwards, he was at the edge of the Twoleg gardens that were at the start of the territory.

_StarClan must really think this is where I really belong..._ he thought in despair. Is this what you really think? After I have proved so many times over that I belonged in the forest? In ThunderClan?

With a great sigh, he leapt onto the fence, like in his dream. Staring out into the garden, he recognized this as the home of his old housefolk, after a moment.

_Housefolk._ It was almost amusing. He was even using kittypet words without thinking, again, now. He might as well just call himself Rusty again, for all it was worth...

Rusty was about to jump down into the garden, when he heard a nervous voice. "W-who's there?"

Rusty looked down into the bushes by the fence line that divided his old garden with the others. A pair of glittering eyes peeked out. "Wait... Firestar, is that you?" the voice called.

"Smudge?" Rusty asked, thinking he recognized the voice. "Yes, it's me!"

A somewhat plump black and white cat came out of the bushes, pausing to waggle his haunches, and jump up onto the fence. "Firestar, what are you doing here?" he purred.

"Don't call me that anymore, Smudge..." Rusty mewled sadly. "I'm Rusty again..."

"Why?" Smudge gasped. "Aren't you in ThunderClan anymore?"

Rusty looked at Smudge with dejected eyes. "Yes, but I've been having these dreams, and thoughts... I think I'm not really destined to be a Clan cat... I might as well come back..."

Smudge was silent for a bit. Then, he looked up, speaking softly.

"Rusty, you were my best friend. I was devastated when you left, but I got used to it. But when I saw you again, as Firepaw, you seemed so proud and sure of yourself... And when I saw you as Clan leader, you had changed. You were now not just Rusty, or Firepaw, but Firestar, leader of ThunderClan."

At this, Smudge rubbed his head against Rusty. "But most importantly, you were still my friend. And you were kind to me... And you fought off BloodClan, and who knows what else. You're just being a mousebrain."

Rusty looked down at his paws. "But..."

"But nothing!" Smudge growled. "You're strong and loyal to your friends. Think about them, if you left. Think about your Clan. Think about what would happen. Would this make you happy?"

Rusty thought about everyone. Graystripe, Brambleclaw, Sandstorm, sweet Sandstorm, and his two beloved daughters, Leafpaw and Squirrelpaw. And StarClan... could he really leave Bluestar, Spottedleaf, Yellowfang, and countless others?"

Being as close to a cat can be to having tears in his eyes, Rusty began purring. He gave Smudge a lick over the ear. "Thank you, Smudge... I think that's what I needed. Some... advice from a friend who understands, that's all."

Rusty stood up. "I am Firestar again... And I must be going." he told Smudge.

Smudge nodded. "I'm glad I was able to see you again, Firestar..." he mewed.

Firestar blinked, and then jumped down, running back towards the forest again.

_StarClan, you don't really think I should go... and you sent me those dreams so I would go and see Smudge, and get my fur on straight. Thank you..._

Looking to the stars once more, he padded back towards camp...

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Hope you enjoyed! ^^


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